Restaurant Week: Butter. Smooth as James Bond.

Good news to anyone sad that they missed restaurant week – it’s been extended through Labor Day! You can check out participating locations at the NYC homepage.

I have to admit that I was most excited for my 3^rd restaurant week foray, to the infamous Butter: Gossip Girl destination, celebrity hotspot, and pinnacle of the too-cool-for-school aesthetic. While I was standing outside with my two friends (only one of which was dining with me) I relayed these emotions. One of my friends is new to NYC and had never heard of the place, so I was telling her of its reputation for snotty, elitist, unfriendly staff and pretentious airs. There was also a guy in a suit smoking against the wall watching us, and as my other friend and I walked into the restaurant … so did he. That’s when I realized that I’d been dissing the restaurant in front if its very own maitre d.

… oops.

Well this turned out not to be such a bad thing as we preceded to receive attentive and friendly service from everyone at the restaurant, including two stops by the maitre himself to make sure that all was well, and complimentary champagne to celebrate my friend’s upcoming wedding (we were chatty with our waiter). And I must admit, that Butter did not live up to its stuck-up reputation – everyone was very pleasant and nice to us.

The menu was another shock. I expected a cursory menu that paid lip service to the idea of rest week without really committing – similar to what we saw at Water Club – but I was pleasantly surprised to see a high-quality menu with respectable options.

And it’s difficult not to be impressed with the décor. I consider myself a hip New York girl, but I felt distinctly not-quite cool enough for the edgy décor, especially the odd bathrooms with red light bulbs. Yet unlike some places that aspire to be trendy and hip, Butter seemed just to BE cool, no effort necessary. The ambiance is part ski lodge, part pacific northwest forest. With lots of wood, dark lighting, and a bizarre backlit picture of a grove of trees as the back wall of the upstairs dining room.

The food was pretty damn good too. I have to say that the calamari appetizer that we got sounded better than the execution though. It was stuffed with a millet mush that… well… that pretty much describes it – mush. The whole affair was then breaded and fried. It was lackluster, but I give them points for creativity and for adding something as ambitious as that to the rest week options.

My entrée was another matter. It was a cod dish with mussels in a bed of sweet pea puree and it was wonderful! The skin on the piece of cod was nice and crispy with a lick of salt to it that cut nicely with the sweetness of the pea the mussels had been cooked in some sort of garlic broth that matched well. My one complaint was that the dish came with three mussels, tow of which didn’t open and were therefore not safe to eat. And the one that was open was good, so it was particularly disappointing.

This was one of several missteps by the restaurant that made what would have been a perfect experience only really good. They also brought our appetizers out too fast, before we’d even gotten bread. The bottle of Riesling we ordered wasn’t really chilled when it was brought out – it was warm. And later on, we got our desserts before we’d even gotten new silverware to eat it with! For such an upscale and trendy place these mistakes were a bit surprising, but it was a good meal none the less.

A good meal topped off by some superb dessert. My friend and I split the lime tart with meringue and a chocolate “sandwich” which was two dense, dark chocolate cake medallions sandwiching a dollop of crème fraiche, with warm fudge and caramel sauces and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The lime tart was refreshing, with a nice, tart flavor and a light, airy texture. With citrus tarts it is easy to go for thick, heavier consistencies, but the lightness of this one was such a pleasure, allowing the subtleness of the lime (compared to a lemon at least) dance across your tongue. I’m not a meringue fan, so I scooped that to the side, but the lime filling and wonderfully balanced shortbread crust made for a delightful dessert without the meringue anyways. It was accompanied by the oddest garish though – this clear gelatinous substance that defies description, sweet and flavored with lemon balm, or lemon verbena or something along that line, it wasn’t offensive, but it’s purpose was quite mystifying.

The chocolate sandwich though was really the showstopper. Like my cod dish, there were layers of flavors playing against each other in an intricate dance across my taste buds. The chocolate cake was deep and rich, with a bitter darkness and depth of flavor that surprised me. This contrasted with the slightly sour hint of the crème fraiche that almost reminded me almost of a yoghurt flavor. The caramel sauce meanwhile was surprisingly salty, without the usual overbearing sweetness that such sauces generally carry. And the ice cream pulled it all together with a touch of velvety smooth cream. It was wonderful. The highlight of my rest week experiences.

So I apologize, Butter, for doubting your dedication and commitment to both rest week and to foodies. Apparently you earned those celebrity followers the old-fashioned way.

Upscale American

Butter

415 Lafayette at Astor Place

Astor Place

Restaurant Week: I Trulli, truly good

After my disastrous restaurant week experience at The Water Club, I approached my rest week dinner at I Trulli with trepidation. But my fears were unfounded. The menu there was decent – perhaps it didn’t include the most expensive items on the menu, but they were respectable and showcased the restaurant’s true Italian tradition. The bread basket came with some nice focaccia and a dish of white stuff I first took to be whipped butter but turned out to be a fresh ricotta.

It was creamy with more texture than butter, which was interesting, but in the end I wanted a bit of salt and the smooth silkiness of butter, which the waiter was happy to provide. We were off to a good start.

I was even more impressed when the appetizers came. Me and one of my friends both ordered the grilled baby octopus and it was phenomenal!

Smaller than I expected, the octopus was literally grilled whole and plated, so we got all 8 tentacles as well as the body. The texture was somewhere between the meaty chew of large octopus and the delicate flesh of a squid. The outside was slightly crispy, especially at the tips of the tentacles, and the body was chewy. The grilled preparation perfectly showcased the natural flavor of the octopus, with just a touch of salt added in. It was served with sliced fingerling potatoes, nice and buttery, some celery, and olives. Very Mediterranean, very traditional, very good.

My second friend got a wonderful heirloom tomato dish as his appetizer.

I forget was its actual name was, but essentially it was a tomato and cucumber salad with a touch of salt, pepper, vinegar & oil on a piece of thick bread, so that the juices from the tomatoes soaked into the hearty bread, drenching it in flavor. Like the octopus, it was simple, showcasing the beauty of the natural ingredients.

I should add as well that I trulli had a wonderful Italian wine list. I got a glass of my favorite – Lambrusco – which is the perfect summer wine if you’re not familiar with it. It is red, but very light and fruity, served chilled and slightly sparkling. Nothing nearly as carbonated as a champagne, but just fizzy enough to add a crisp, refreshing texture. Luckily, we were able to snag a table on the back patio area, and the Lambrusco was the perfect balance for the mild summer night.

Our entrées were slightly less impressive than the apps were, but still very good. My hake (a soft, flaky white fish reminiscent of Chilean sea bass) came literally raw. When I complained the waiter explained that it is served rare on purpose. Now I have nothing against raw fish – I love sushi – but somehow it just didn’t seem right. This was a cooked fish dish, warm, and the stringy texture did not sit well with me. But the restaurant was more than happy to take it back and cook it for a few extra minutes, and on the second try, it was perfect – just cooked through but still soft and tender.

The “sauce” was really a mix of roasted tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini and olives. Again, it was simple but flavorful (see a theme here?), relying on the quality of the ingredients. I must say that for a summer evening, sitting outside, it was also light enough not to sit heavily in my stomach.

My friends both ordered the baby chicken, which came simply roasted, on a bed of sautéed veggies that had tremendous flavor. While I stuck to my pescatarian ways, they both proclaimed it a solid entrée.

Dessert was the one area of disappointment, not that this is a surprise to me as I always find Italian desserts underwhelming – with the exception of gelato, of course. I got the chocolate semi-freddo, which sounded promising, but came too thawed to really be “freddo” at all, be it fully or semi! It had more of the texture of a chocolate mousse, with tiny slivers of ice every so often, not exactly pleasant. And the chocolate was too sweet.

One of my friends opted for the more diet conscious “peche” dessert which was basically a poached peach, skinned, atop a tasteless birds nest. Underwhelming to say the least. I should have gone for the tiramisu.

Overall it was quite a successful rest week affair. Afterall, compared to the Water Club, 2 out of 3 courses isn’t bad! The ambiance is pretty, relaxing, not too loud, and rather authentic. It was easy to imagine in the covered back patio, with the small marble waterfall, that we were really in Tuscany, and not NYC. But alas, we left the restaurant and walked back onto 27^h street.

Italian – mid-priced

I Trulli

27^h St just west of Lexington

Murray Hill

Restaurant Week: The Water Club … or watered down service

I have mixed feelings on restaurant week. In theory, it’s the best thing that could happen to a foodie with a limited budget in NYC. For those unfamiliar, Rest Week is a biannual event where restaurants offer 3-course prix fixe menus, $25 for lunch and $35 for dinner. It helps promote the businesses by drawing in new customers, exposing them to their food and hopefully inspiring them to return. For the eaters, they get to explore places that would normally be outside their budget or general preferences.

In actuality, most of the highest end places (Craft, Daniel’s, etc.) either don’t participate or only offer the deal during lunchtime, when most people cannot take an hour and a half-two hours to go eat a gourmet 3-course lunch. And the restaurants that do offer dinners have such abbreviated and disappointing menus that you almost don’t want to bother ordering off of them! Of course this is their plan, as you’ll end up spending more if you order off the regular menu. A standard rest week menu included a soup, a salad, and one other appetizer for the first course, a salmon dish, roast chicken dish, and one other entrée, and then three desserts – but never their specialties. So picking your rest week destinations is somewhat of a crapshoot: some have good menus, some will leave you feeling cheated.

Cheated is exactly how I felt with my first rest week outing of the season. It happened to be my good friend’s bday so I booked a reservation for four of us at The Water Club, located literally ON the east river, with gorgeous views out of their floor-ceiling windows. The vibe is very old-money-yachting-club. I half expected to see men puffing on cigars and sipping brandy in the lobby, despite the smoking ban in NYC. It is difficult to find, and even harder to walk to. Situated on the other side of the FDR on 30^th at the river, you have to either walk down 34^th or 23^rd to cross over to the service road that leads to the restaurant. There is nothing else in the vicinity – you’re never going to wander by and think “oh! Let’s eat there!” This would seem to make rest week a perfect opportunity for the Water Club to entice a new breed of patrons.  Too bad they blew it.

Things first started going downhill when we were seated. I has specifically made the resercation for a window table, and reconfirmed the request the day before. They had said “no problem.” When the host walked us to an inside table, I mentioned the request, and he told me that he could put us on the list but that it would be another half hour wait. Funny thing was, there was an open 4-top at the window! When I pointed it out he responded that “oh no, that table is reserved.” WHAT? Apparently Water Club is precisely a club, and we were not members. This outsider status became even clearer as the evening went on and service became less and less acceptable.

The rest week options were of the disappointing variety I mentioned earlier but even worse – there were only TWO options for each course. A cold leek and potato soup and a simple salad for apps, a salmon and braised beef dishes for entrées and a summer berry pudding or chocolate mocha layer cake for dessert. Now I don’t eat meat, and I don’t like salmon, so I was kind of screwed. One of my friends is a vegetarian, and they were unwilling to accomodate her on the rest week menu. She had expected this and ended up ordering the “mixed vegetable” platter, the restaurant’s only concession to vegetarians. My other two friends orderded from the rest week menu for budgetary reasons, and I decided that if I wasn’t going to order off the rest week menu, I might as well splurge and order what I really wanted: the Dover sole. The ironic part of the situation was that The Water Club has a $39 prix fixe “pre-theatre” menu every week! (Despite being no where near Broadway row) And that menu, which is included on their website, is a wonderful balance between showcasing the restaurant’s cooking and leaving off the priciest options. We had expected the $35 rest week menu to be similar … apparently not.

We also ordered a bottle of Sancerre, which was ok … but not as good as I’d expect a restaurant like that to carry. With so many good, inexpensive wines out there, it shows a lack of attention to the wine list that such a sub-par option was even included.

After we’d ordered and my anger at the restaurant melted in the warm, good company of my friend, I relaxed a bit. That is until our food arrived. The rest week menu items that my two friends ordered were decent enough. My veggie friend’s platter was a joke. It was just a bunch of sides heaped onto a plate, none of them cooked particularly well or interestingly, and for $25, hardly worth the pricetag. My Dover sole was very good, with a muniere sauce, all buttery and capered. But I’ve had better Dover sole. It was good, but not $35 entree impressive.

Then came dessert. The waiter came over with only 2 menus, not four, and handed them to the girls who’d ordered off the rest week menu… no dessert for me? My sweet tooth and my pride were offended and I asked him to bring menus to ALL of us. As if that should even have been a question? In the end only the two rest week menu girls decided to order dessert since it was already included, but when they gave their order, the waiter looked at them and said “oh no, you can only have one of the two restaurant week desserts from the other menu.” WHAT? Then why did he hand them the full dessert menus? To show them what they are NOT being offered. It is this kind of lack of attention to detail that you do not expect from such a fancy, high-brow place.

Needless to say, I left the restaurant indignant, angry, and offended. The staff had been less than friendly, less than helpful and less than accommodating. The food was “eh” and the view wasn’t even that great. Why would I go back there? Oh right, I wouldn’t. And I suggest you don’t either.

Seafood – Fancy

The Water Club

The east river and FDR at 30^th St.

Murray Hill

I’m Back!

I apologize for the long absence! My camera was broken for awhile, and I didn’t want to write any posts without pictures! That being said, my first post back in the game is – ironically – photo-less as it’s from a fancy restaurant where I did not feel comfortable taking pictures. It was just that kind of atmosphere. So enjoy the slew of posts to come. I’m a little (read a lot) backed up and have lots to say!

The Intellectual Eater

Clinton Street Baking Co. – brunch that’s worth the wait

Clinton Street Baking Company is one of New York’s worst kept secrets. It also happens to be one of the best brunch spots in town. A tiny little nook of a restaurant, CSBC can hardly accommodate parties of more than four, although I’ve seen people come in and try to put their name on the list for parties of 6 or even 7. How anyone could take one look at the limited number of tables and not feel like an asshole for coming with a big party is beyond me. Technically, the restaurant is open for brunch from 10-4 on weekends, but the line starts forming even before then, and names stop getting added onto the list around 2:00. It’s not uncommon to have a 2 hour wait on a Saturday or Sunday morning. But let me tell you, it is well worth it!

On a recent weekend I stopped by there with two friends, one of whom arrived early at only 10:15 … there was already a 90 minute wait. So we went around the corner to Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery for some iced coffee and a cupcake while we waited. Yes, there’s nothing like a little bit of bakery-goodness to tide you over while waiting for brunch The Lemon Yummy cupcakes at Sugar Sweet are the best cupcakes in the city if you ask me (which clearly you did since you’re reading this blog). The cake is moist with a slight lemony flavor, and the frosting is a delicious blend of sugary sweetness fettered by the tangy bite of real lemon juice. They aren’t too big to finish, but aren’t so small you feel cheated. And if you split one as an appetizer, they are a perfect way to tide yourself over while you wait for your table over at CSBC.

After our coffee and cupcake sidenote, we wandered back to CSBC, waiting a bit longer, and finally got our table. CSBC is famous for their pancakes. They’re big, fluffy, airy and moist all at once, and they come in plain, blueberry or banana walnut.

While I do admit that they are the best pancakes I’ve ever eaten, I can’t help being partial to the banana walnut version. We’re talking some serious decadence on a plate. Bananas and walnuts are mixed into the batter as well as scattered on top, and the warm maple butter drizzled on top adds the right amount of gooey lubrication for the doughy pancakes. If you’re a pancake lover, this will be your Mecca. These are the Lexus hybrid of the pancake world – luxurious but humble. CSBC is not a pretentious spot, but it damn well tastes like it deserves to be!

If you’re in the mood for something savory, their smoked salmon benedict is wonderful, perched on top of the house biscuits and doused in hollandaise sauce. For those of you who have spent any time in the south, you’ll likely be disappointed in the biscuits. They’re northern style biscuits – thick and crumbly almost like a savory scone. A great biscuit to me is flaky, moist and buttery, but if you don’t try to label them and just enjoy, CSBC’s biscuits still taste good. If you order a biscuit on the side, it comes with their house raspberry jam. My suggestion: no matter what you order, ask for some jam too. Their raspberry jam is more like a sauce than a jam, and is one of the best things in the whole place. Fruity, not to sweet, it is clearly just quality fruit stewed down just right. It goes great on the plain or blueberry pancakes too.

Raspberry-yogurt muffin with house raspberry jam

When I was there recently, my friends had the pancakes, but I was in the mood for something different and tried the Farmer’s Frittata which is baked eggs with cheese curds, cherry tomatoes, and some pesto. Great combo or flavors, although I do wish there had been a little more tomato and cheese to egg ratio. Baked eggs always tickly my tongue, all fluff and air, almost like a soufflé, and the pesto-cheese-tomato combo matched very nicely. A little acid from the tomatoes, a gorgeous aroma from the pesto, and some saltiness from the cheese. Perhaps not the star item on CSBC’s menu, but a solid dish nonetheless.

True to their name, Clinton Street Baking Company also offers a variety of baked goods. Their muffins are excellent – I’d consider taking some home in a doggy bag for later – although I have yet to try any of their pies or cakes. Also make sure you flip the menu over and look at the specials when you go. CSBC uses seasonal ingredients to great effect. On a visit earlier this spring I was fortunate enough to go there when they had a “spring scramble” with morel mushrooms, fiddlehead ferns, ramps and goat cheese. It was superb. One of the best egg dishes I have ever had. They also had Strawberry Almond Vanilla waffles once, but were sold out by the time I got seated – a sad loss for my taste buds.

Cliffs Notes Version: Clinton Street Baking Company is one of the best brunch spots in NYC, the best pancakes, and great specials. Go to Sugar Sweet Sunshine around the block for a sugar rush to tide you over while you wait.

Brunch Spot

Clinton Street Baking Company

LES

Saturday & Sunday: 10am-4pm

Krazy! Salt of the gods

A reader recently asked me about the “salt” that is included in one of the pictures in the Summer Radish salad posting, and it occurred to me that most people probably did not have the privilege of growing up with Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt – or just crazy salt for short. Growing up, my mother used to cut up fresh tomatoes sprinkled with crazy salt as a healthy snack. These days, I use it in everything with a capitol E. In fact the only time I really use regular table salt is when I bake, or added to water when I make pasta.  Once tomato season hits its peak, I love buying different varieties of heirloom tomatoes at the farmer’s market and taste testing them with just a hint of crazy salt and some fresh mozzarella.  mmmm…

What makes crazy salt so special and unique you ask? I’m not entirely sure. It is a simple seasoned salt, one of many that are available in your local supermarket, but there’s something different about Jane’s. I chalk it up to the texture mainly. Crazy salt is a combination of herbs, spices, onion, garlic, and salt FLAKES. The flakes are thin little wafers of savory succulence, dissolving instantly on the tongue, and leaving no trace of the grainy texture that table salt has. It dissolves into sauces, marinades, dressing, and meaty juices with equal ease, imparting little bursts of flavor wherever it is poured. Whatever the secret mix of herbs and spices is, it surely accounts for part of the success of the product, although I would be hard-pressed to name any ingredients by taste other than pepper. Whatever the magic may be, I urge you all to try a bottle. It will be well worth the $2 investment.

Jane’s Krazy Mixed-Up Seasonings

Original Mixed-Up Salt

“Liven up your favorite dishes with this zesty, ALL NATURAL seasoning. Adds tantalizing flavor to meat, poultry, fish and vegetables!”

Lantern Thai – cheap, cute, and good

There’s a new kid on the block in the Gramercy area. Located in a bit of a neighborhood no-man’s land on 18^th & 2^nd, Lantern is a much needed infusion of good eats in an under-served area. Cheap and good, this bright and shiny newcomer still seems to be working out some of the kinks – our appetizer arrived just moments before our entrée (a performance repeated at the table next to us) and we felt very rushed throughout the meal. That being said, for a check totaling $30 for two of us and some pretty tasty Thai food, I couldn’t complain.

I had been dying to try out Lantern since I noticed it moved in down the block from my apartment a couple months ago. The menu is telling – basic Thai fare, some more creative takes on the typical cuisine, and rock bottom prices that make your heartbeat race. Aesthetically speaking, Lantern is very cute. It’s chic and slightly kitschy but somehow maintains a sleek enough veneer to steer clear of being tacky. There are some interesting “trees” in the center of the small dining room with golden leaves hanging from them and a mirrored ceiling that makes the space seem bigger. True to its name, Lantern has a mix of cool wall sconces, chandeliers and interesting light fixtures that elevate the atmosphere above the kitschiness of the giant Bangkok skyline settled behind the bar.

When my friend and I got there the place was packed, although we only had to wait about 10 minutes for a table. Turnover is quick, and tables are packed in. We decided to split an order of the Thai crepe, which was nothing like we expected, but completely delicious. When it came, the “crepe” was a dumpling with a glutinous rice flour wrapper, stuffed with minced radish and peanuts in some sort of brown sauce. The result was fantastic. The filling was sweet – almost dessert-like – and nutty. The smooth and chewy texture of the crepe was a great counterpoint to the crunchy filling, and the Thai sweet chili dipping sauce added additional flavor complexities. For those of you who read “radish and peanut??” and made a face, try not to judge. You would never be able to guess that radish was the main ingredient in the filling. I would have liked to try a different dipping sauce – something a bit salty or sour to counterpoint the sweetness of the dumpling – but my friend thought the sweet chili sauce was perfect.

For entrees I ordered pad see ewe with tofu (my fave) and my friend got the pad thai with chicken. Both came in perfect sized portions. I find that a lot of restaurant portions are too large and I end up overeating simply because the food is there. Lantern’s portions are small, but adequate, and at only $9 a plate, exactly what you’re paying for. The pad see ewe had great flavor, though it was a little oilier that I would have liked. The noodles were perfectly cooked, and the tofu was silky but still managed to maintain its form. For those unfamiliar with pad see ewe, it is thick rice noodles with your choice of meat or tofu, chinese broccoli, and a sweet brown sauce made from a mixture of oyster sauce, sweet soy sauce, and fish sauce. It eschews the fruity, nutty flavor of pad thai for something a bit more earthy.

The pad thai was also good. While not the best pad thai I’ve ever had in my life, it was light years beyond the greasy tasteless stuff you get at most of the cheap delivery placed in NYC.

And when our check came for only $25 for the two of us, we couldn’t help but feel satisfied. All in all, a solid new local fave. It reminds me a lot of Klong, my other great cheap Thai place on St. Marks. I have to say that I think Klong is better, but Lantern is close to home, and good substitute when I’m feeling lazy.

Thai

Lantern

2^nd Avenue @ 18^th Street

Gramercy

Rickshaw Dumpling Bar – Gourmet Fast Food

I’m a fan of good cheap food. I’m also a fan of Asian food, and especially of dumplings, so when I heard about Rickshaw Dumpling Bar, a new chain of dumpling joints, I was intrigued. The theory behind Rickshaw is that they can mass produce high quality dumplings for cheap, and by adding soup, or salad and dressing to one of a few types of dumplings, you’ll have enough iterations to create a menu.

Rickshaw offers 6 types of dumplings, either steamed or fried, and either with dipping sauce, in a salad, or in dumping soup.

I went and tried the duck dumplings and the Thai chicken with basil & lemongrass dumplings. Both were good, and for about $5, you’ll be hard pressed to find better fast food – or healthier fast food for that matter! But I have to say, the dumplings were good but not fantastic. Not something that I would crave like I crave Delight 28 dim sum in Chinatown, and not like I crave crappy, greasy fast food when I’m hungover. If you’re lucky enough to have a Rickshaw near your office, however, it is definitely worthwhile for a quick, cheap lunch. Try the mint green iced tea while you’re at it too. It’s unsweetened with just the right amount of mint to compliment the tea without overpowering.

Dumplings

Rickshaw Dumpling Bar

61 W 23^rd St, between 5^th & 6^th Ave

Chelsea

Henry’s – a gem on the UWS

It isn’t often that I head up to the UWS. And by not often I mean next to never. So when I had to pick a restaurant up there for a dinner with my aunt and uncle, I was at a bit of a loss. But a while back for my birthday a friend of mine had given me this pack of cards that have $10 gift certificates for dozens of restaurants in New York. Now I realize that it’s all paid promotions and what have you, but I figured, why not? I had the gift certificate after all. So off I went to meet my family at Henry’s on Broadway & 105^th St. Little did I know that I was in for one of the most enjoyable meals I’ve had in awhile, and not just because I was in excellent company (my mother and sister were there too).

The food was good. It was very good in fact, but the service was EXCELLENT. The entire staff was so friendly, knowledgeable, and accommodating, that it made a good meal great.

But first: the food. Between the five of us at the table we ordered enough for and army, and one thing you should understand about my family and food is that nothing at the table is “yours”. Everything is shared, and passed and enjoyed by all. So as a table, per say, we ordered the following appetizers: chilled seafood platter for two, mezza plate, fried calamari. All were good. The seafood platter had a wonderful crab salad atop a bed of mango and avocado, some oysters and clams on the half shell, tuna tartar, grilled shrimp… basically a whole lot of very tasty seafood. It was only the second time in my life that I had ever had had oysters. The first time (in Florida fresh from the sea) I thought they were nasty. But since they were already there, I figured I might as well try again (it had been 6 years after all), and you know what? They weren’t half bad! Not really worth all the fuss that oysters seem to inspire, but not terrible. The crab salad though and the shrimp – now they were something special.

And before I get to the entrées, I should tell you about the special that we had. It was braised short ribs, and despite the fact that short ribs are my favorite, and my mother’s favorite, none of us were in the mood to order it that night. So our waitress stood there chuckling at us each trying to convince someone else to order the special so that we could taste it, and in the end the chef – via our waitress – was so touched that we wanted to try all his dishes, that the restaurant cooked an order of the special short ribs and split it up 5 ways as a middle course. So we got to try it after all, and BOY was it good. Tender, and flavorful, a little smoky, a little salty, with the acidic undertones of the red wine it was cooked with. The mashed potatoes underneath were creamy and chived and soaked up all the wonderful juice of the tender morsel of meat on top.

Seeing as I’ve rambled on for quite some time already, I will tidy up. Main course: I ordered the pork chop, which was wonderful. It was pink and juicy inside and slightly crisped outside, with scalloped potatoes, some escarole, and lots of flavor. All of our entrées were good, but what really elevated the meal was the friendly staff and down to earth atmosphere. I highly recommend Henry’s if you’re looking for a nice place to eat up near Columbia.

UWS Dining

Henry’s

2745 Broadway @ 105th St.

UWS

Top 5 cocktail bars

I love a good drink – the kind that makes your eyes open wide in surprise and your tongue dance in your mouth as it seeks to identify all the flavors and memorize the textures of the drink. I’m old school in that I like a speakeasy with classic cocktails, but I’m trendy in that I like to push the boundaries and take new spins on old favorites. So with those prejudices in mind, here are my top 5 spots to get a quality cocktail. I’m not talking about “bars” I’m talking about BARS, with real bartenders, that know how to craft a cocktail:

1. Bar Milano (Gramercy, new, 3rd Ave @ 24th st.)

2. Pravda (SoHo, try the smaller, quieter upstairs area, Lafayette just south of Houston)

3. Flatiron Lounge (Flatiron, 19th btwn 5th & 6th)

4. Angel’s Share (east Village, Stuyvesant St @ Astor Place)

5. Blue Owl (east Village, 2nd Ave @ 12th St.)

Cheers!